Prologue
A figure dressed in black with spiky platinum-blonde hair strode through the ruined city with sure steps. He was of average height and build, if leaning toward the thin side. He was wearing a ribbed sleeveless turtleneck and loose-fitting cargo pants with combat boots that thumped softly on the pavement as he walked. A massive sword was attached to a magnetic holder on his back, red smears staining the blade attesting to its recent use. Emotionless green eyes scanned the wrecked buildings, glowing eerily in the darkness as twilight faded into night.
"Brother!"
The blonde glanced over his shoulder at the call, but did not slow his steps. The second man was wearing a similar outfit, one hand holding onto the sheathed katana at his side as he ran. He had a slim build, looking more fitting for the role of a dancer than a fighter. His glowing green eyes were bright with excitement as he hurried over, fine silver hair with just a hint of yellow brushing his shoulders as he jogged to catch up with the blonde.
"How did it go?" asked the first man, turning his eyes back to the buildings around them.
"Much better than the last town," the silver-haired man enthused, grinning broadly. "We have over a hundred new brothers and sisters! Obviously we won't know for sure how many until Mother weeds out all the unworthy ones tonight, but it looks promising so far!"
The blonde nodded but did not reply.
The silver-haired man's excitement dimmed a bit as he matched his companion's pace. He was silent for a moment, worrying his lip between his teeth before clearing his throat. "So, how much longer until we-"
The blonde cut him off with a raised hand, his head turning sharply to the left. Without a word, he moved quickly down the remains of an alley and entered a partially caved-in house at its end. One of the locals was lying atop of the broken remains of a staircase, trying to gather enough strength to move. He started painfully when the two appeared, throwing himself forward with a cry of agony in a futile attempt to reach the sword lying across the room.
The blonde met the man's eyes. "Will you join us?"
The man uttered something in his native language and spat at their feet.
A sword flashed and the man's head rolled. The blonde flicked the blood from his blade before returning it to the holder on his back. His apathetic gaze turned to the cringing silver-haired man at his side. "You missed someone, Kadaj."
Kadaj hunched his shoulders, looking contrite. "I'm sorry, brother. I was just so excited that so many wanted to join us-"
"That is no excuse," the blonde chastised, exiting the house and continuing his search of the city. "Have you forgotten that such sloppy behavior cost mother one of her favorite children?"
Kadaj bowed his head, closing his eyes as he remembered Loz. He was silent for a long moment. "I remember," he said softly, voice strained. He cleared his throat. "When, Cloud? When are we going to make them pay for what they've done?"
Cloud took pity on the younger man. The death of Loz was just as hard on him as it was on Kadaj, though Cloud took his pain and turned into something useful. "Soon."
Kadaj drew in a sharp breath, glancing up to meet Cloud's eye. "We're finally ready?"
The blonde nodded. "Depending on how many of our new siblings make it through the night, we may be ready to march on Midgar in as little as six months," he stated. He lifted his glaze, eyes hardening as he stared into the distance. "They will join us or die."
The two continued making their way through the town, unaware of their watcher from the Lifestream. A tall man stood in the swirling energy that comprised the river of life, long dark hair falling past his shoulders. His pale features were mostly hidden behind the high collar of his dark red cloak, although his crimson eyes were easily visible. A three-barreled handgun was holstered at his side and a golden gauntlet tipped with sharp claws covered his left arm. Vincent Valentine watched the scene before him in frustration, shaking head as he turned away.
"ARE YOU DONE WITH THIS ONE, MY HOST?"
Vincent turned to the winged demon lounging near him. The humanoid creature had wild red hair that seemed to defy gravity with piercing yellow eyes. Sharp fangs were visible when he smiled and large bat-like wings were folded neatly behind him. His clothing reflected what Vincent himself was wearing, though the gunman assumed that was because the demon resided in his head and could only manifest in the physical world through the use of Vincent's body.
"I am," Vincent replied, turning his back fully on the two ex-SOLDIER walking through the demolished town. He couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had gone wrong this time but the multiple failures were starting to wear on him. His gaze slid toward the demon re-ordering time once more, his thoughts going back to the start of this rather unusual day.
He had traveled to the cave behind the waterfall near Rocket Town where Lucrecia was encased in crystalized mako. He had made the trek several times over the last few years, originally trying to come up with a way to free his lost love from the mako crystals. Though he was ultimately unsuccessful, he still made the journey and just sat with her, though she gave no indication that she was aware of anything at all. He knew she wasn't dead- the J-cells saw to that -but she had given up on living long ago.
It was during the hours of quiet contemplation that Chaos had spoken to him. In the long years since Hojo's meddling had saddled Vincent with the demonic alter-ego, this was first time Chaos had ever spoken to him directly. The demon asked what he wished for most in this world. Although Vincent retained enough control to keep from answering, his eyes immediately sought out Lucrecia's form. Unfortunately, that seemed to be enough of an answer for the demon.
The next thing Vincent knew, he was floating in a sea of green, softly glowing tendrils eddying and swirling around him. Instinctively he knew where he was: the Lifestream. And Chaos was standing right in front of him.
The almost military manner in which Chaos had listed off the rules for whatever game he was playing had left Vincent off-balance. No direct interference was allowed. No revealing himself to anyone. No foreshadowing events to come. He could not travel back further than when Chaos was merged with Vincent. He could try to change the past as many times as he wanted, but it ultimately had to lead to a better outcome than that of the original timeline.
Change the past. The casually mentioned impossibility gave Vincent pause and provided Chaos enough time to finish what he'd been doing. A window of sorts appeared before them, showing the interior of a lab with glowing tanks of mako along the far wall. Lucrecia was leaning heavily against one of the tables, a hand pressed against her bulging belly. She looked to be in pain.
Lucrecia had always been Vincent's weakness and he knew it. One look at her and he knew he'd take whatever deal the demon offered. He had a chance to save her and there was nothing he wouldn't give for that.
The first attempt had ended in utter failure. Vincent was essentially restricted to putting thoughts into her head and hoping she listened while making her think the thoughts were her own. Apparently, knowing how someone thought and knowing how someone phased thoughts in the privacy of their mind were two very different things.
He eventually did get the hang of it, but every single thing he tried seemed to end worse than the last. He'd lost count of the times he'd watched her die and decided he couldn't do it again.
He then turned his attention to her son. The first- and last -time he had spoken to Lucrecia in the cave, she had asked about Sephiroth. Given what Sephiroth had turned into, and the fact that he and his companions were chasing the madman with lethal intent at the time, he'd lied and told her he was dead.
Again, every attempt ended in failure. The worst cases were when Cloud was raised as Sephiroth's replacement, either from birth or shortly thereafter. In the latest one, Sephiroth had been killed in an escape attempt early on and Cloud had grown up under Hojo's care to become ShinRa's golden boy. The death of Loz had seemingly driven home their mortality in Cloud's mind. Sephiroth had had a flair for dramatics. In contrast, Cloud was pragmatic. If one of them could be killed, they could all be killed.
With that in mind, Cloud had started marching across the country with Kadaj and a few others, recruiting and killing in equal measure. He started with the isolated towns and villages, cutting phone and power lines as well as taking out cell towers to completely cut them off from the rest of the world before moving in. ShinRa didn't even know anything was wrong before Cloud had an entire continent under his control.
Vincent rubbed his forehead, eyes narrowing slightly in a scowl. It seemed Sephiroth was irredeemable, as well. Perhaps he was trying to change too much? Sephiroth had been the driving force behind Meteor, which would have crippled- if not outright destroyed -the Planet, and then he'd instigated Geostigma. A small percentage of the world's population had already fallen to the epidemic before Kadaj merged with the remains of the Calamity, unwittingly allowing Sephiroth to manifest through the clone.
Could he prevent Sephiroth from succeeding in summoning Meteor? Ultimately, Aeris had summoned the ultimate white magic to counter the ultimate black magic, but it was almost too late and the largest metropolis in the world had been almost completely destroyed. With Geostigma riding on its heels, they still didn't have an accurate count of how many people had been killed that day. Could he keep Cloud from giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth?
"PERHAPS THIS WOULD BE A GOOD STARTING POINT," Chaos stated, interrupting Vincent's thoughts.
The gunman turned his attention back to the outer world, blinking in surprise as he found himself staring at a pale yellow truck bouncing down the road. The sun had almost reached its zenith in the sky, shining down on the two men riding in the bed. Cloud looked much the same as he had when Vincent had seen him in Mideel with severe mako poisoning. Although he was sitting against the tailgate, managing more or less to remain upright while the bumpy road knocked him this way and that, the vacant look his eyes indicated that was about the extent of his abilities at the moment. Zack was leaning against the wheel well, one leg bent with his arm resting casually on his knee. He was far enough away to give a pretense of normality to their situation but still close enough to help the blonde should he need it. The easy way in which he kept up a steady stream of chatter, including Cloud in the conversation while never actually asking for a response from the blonde, was a good indicator of just how long he'd been doing this.
"When are we?" Vincent asked, turning to Chaos.
"WE ARE APPROACHING THE NEXT TURNING POINT," the winged demon stated, a smile playing about his lips as he watched the truck moving down the road. "IN TWO MONTHS, CLOUD STRIFE WILL JOIN AVALANCHE. IN FIVE MONTHS, HE'LL AWAKEN YOU IN YOUR CRYPT."
"I see." Vincent watched as Zack laughed at something and reached over to ruffle Cloud's hair. Cloud's headed bobbled with the motion but he didn't react. "What is the turning point?" Vincent asked, fairly sure he already knew the answer.
"THE DEATH OF ZACKARY FAIR, GUNNED DOWN BY THE SHINRA ARMY ON A CLIFFTOP AT THE EDGE OF THE MIDGAR WASTES."
Vincent nodded, going over what little information he had about that time period in his mind. After Zack's death, Cloud coped with what had happened to him by becoming the SOLDIER First in all but name and blocking out any memories that contradicted that. Tifa had been present in Nibelheim during the massacre, but didn't have all the facts and had been unwilling to challenge Cloud's version of events. The holes created by the blocked memories allowed Sephiroth to confuse and control the blonde, ultimately resulting in Cloud handing over the Black Materia. Had Zack lived, his very existence would have negated that entire set of problems.
Decision made, Vincent turned his attention toward Midgar. He closed his eyes as the scenery blurred past him, reopening them to find he was now at ShinRa tower. It only took him a few moments to learn the army was being mobilized and would head out within the hour. The fugitives, as the commanding officer had informed his lieutenant, had been seen leaving Kalm in a yellow truck, heading for Midgar. Their orders were to intercept and eliminate the targets.
Noting where on the map the confrontation was to take place, Vincent returned to Zack and Cloud, again closing his eyes against the dizzying blur of colors as he moved between locations. Once there, he turned his attention to Zack, studying the SOLDIER First with a critical eye. Upon closer inspection, Vincent could see the subtle tension running through Zack's body, like a coiled spring just waiting to be released. Sharp eyes continuously roamed the landscape and zeroed in on any movement off the road, cataloging and dismissing possible threats. A hand clenched, then released as a bird landed on a distant rock. His jaw tightened briefly as a rodent scurried off beneath some shrubs. The only oddity was the sword lying casually at Zack's feet instead of being more readily accessible near his hand. Zack twitched reflexively to the left as a howl echoed from the distance, catching himself as he realized it wasn't an immediate threat and Vincent understood. Shifting to his left- facing Cloud -would drop his right hand directly on the sword's hilt, leaving his left arm free to grab the blonde and go.
It seemed Zack had been on the run for too long to lower his guard in the homestretch. His paranoia was good. Aside from keeping both he and Cloud alive and out of ShinRa's hands thus far, it would also give Vincent a better chance to influence his decisions.
. . .
To Be Continued
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